Natural Killer Cells in Kidney Transplantation: Dual Role in Allograft Injury and Immune Adaptation

Subpopulation	Proportion in blood	Key markers	Main function	Role in kidney transplantation
CD56^bright	5%–10%	NKG2A, CD16	Cytokine production (IFN-γ, IL-10, TGF-β)	Regulatory, pro-tolerogenic
CD56^dim CD16⁺	~90%	KIR, CD16	Cytotoxicity, ADCC	Mediator of ABMR and acute rejection
Adaptive NK	Variable	NKG2C, CD57, KIR	Memory-like, enhanced cytotoxicity	Antiviral defense + possible chronic alloreactivity

[i] ABMR, acute antibody-mediated rejection; ADCC, antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity; IFN, interferon; IL, interleukin; KIR, killer immunoglobulin-like receptor; NK, natural killer; TGF, transforming growth factor.

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/aite-2026-0026 | Journal eISSN: 1661-4917

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Language: English

Submitted on: May 30, 2026

Accepted on: Aug 7, 2026

Published on: Sep 30, 2026

Published by: Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy

In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services

Publication frequency: 1 issue per year

Keywords:

Natural killer cells,

NK,

Kidney transplantation,

Allograft rejection,

Ischemia-reperfusion injury,

Immune tolerancen

Related subjects:

Medicine,

Basic medical science,

Biochemistry,

Immunology,

Clinical medicine,

Clinical medicine, other,

Clinical chemistry

© 2026 Anna Skotny, Paweł Poznański, Katarzyna Kościelska-Kasprzak, Dorota Bartoszek, Marcelina Żabińska, Dorota Kamińska, Magdalena Krajewska, published by Hirszfeld Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 License.

Volume 74 (2026): Issue 1 (January 2026)